Phyllis Diller Dead at Age 95

Legendary comedienne and TV star Phyllis Diller has died at the age of 95. Diller’s health had been in decline and she died earlier this morning at her Los Angeles home.

Diller started her career with a local TV show titled ‘Phyllis Dillis, the Homely Friendmaker’ and the success of that show led to numerous opportunities including guest spots on ‘What’s My Line?’ and ‘Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In.’

This led to two attempts at her own TV series – ‘The Phyllis Diller Show’ and ‘The Beautiful Phyllis Diller Show’ in the late-60s. Despite her popularity, neither show did well in the ratings and both were canceled by 1970. She continued to work in TV guesting on ‘The Muppet Show,’ ‘The Drew Carey Show,’ ’7th Heaven’ and ‘Scooby-Doo.’

In addition to her TV work, she also starred in ‘A Splendor in the Grass’ and contributed a voice to Pixar’s ‘A Bug’s Life.’ And oddly enough, Diller posed for Playboy when she was younger but the photos were never published.

Diller suffered a heart attack in 1999 and had been living with a pacemaker.